Restless
by shattered hymns
Summary: She finally has her dream - a mission with the man she loves. Now if she could just: get him to acknowledge her, avoid Naruto's loveletters, and keep Kakashi-sensei from putting her into the most embarrassing positions... Alternate Universe


**Disclaimer:** I do not hold the rights to Naruto.   
  
**notes:** Welcome to my little Naruto-based fic. It's basically an AU, though it is actually set in the canon universe as much as is possible. I've torn the characters from the basic characterizations in the first ten-or-so episodes of the anime.   
  
  
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**Chapter One:**     _Female Ninja: Fury!_  
*`*`*`*`   
  
  
_I can't believe this,_ one Haruno Sakura thought sourly, wriggling her wrists against the coarse, frayed rope. If anyone learned that she had been captured - captured! - so simply, she would simply die. Absolutely, without qualifications, die.   
  
"Hmm~mm," her captor hummed thoughtfully, looking her over. "So this is a ninja, huh? You don't look so tough."   
  
_Ooh, if I had my hands free, you would so pay for that..._ Her eyes narrowed into slits as she tested the strength of her bonds once again. It wouldn't be hard to get free. The problem was the very tall man standing before her, arms oh-so-casually crossed over his chest.   
  
"I wonder why you girls are allowed to train. You don't make such good fighters - that much is obvious." He tilted his head curiously, offered an amiable smile.   
  
_Going... to... kill... you._ Her inner voice suddenly contracted in the force of her fury. How dare he say such a thing? She trained just as hard as any others, and was quite efficient, thank you very much.   
  
Current situation aside, of course.   
  
"That was simply too easy, you know, Sakura," he said seriously then, shifting to adopt a lecturing pose.   
  
_Oh, boy. Here it goes..._ "Mmmfhungarnum," she snapped peevishly, trying to spit out her gag.   
  
"It was completely fair!" he refuted, arching a brow. "Do you think an enemy will let up simply because you're taking a bath?"   
  
She blushed and snarled at him wordlessly, eyes sparking with anger.   
  
"Oh no, I'm certainly not untying you now," he laughed.   
  
_That's... it!_ She snapped the rope holding her wrists together and tore the rag - thankfully clean - from her mouth. "Kakashi-sensei," she warned, "If you don't start running now, I'm going to _slaughter_ your perverted butt and feed it to the village pups!"   
  
"My, my, such violence," he noted calmly, absolutely unfazed. "Anyway, the point is that an intermediate ninja should not have--"   
  
"Ka-ka-shi-sen-sei..." the long, drawn-out, too-enunciated syllables finally got through to her former mentor, and he heaved a dramatic sigh.   
  
"Well, then, I suppose no one needs to know about this. But you should be more careful next time, Sa-ku-ra."   
  
"Oh, that's _it_!"   
  
~`~`~`~`   
  
"Rough night?"   
  
"Something like that." Kakashi closed his book, glancing up with a mild expression that looked somewhat odd in his fairly battered face - or what could be seen of it, behind his normal face covering. "No missions today, Sasuke?"   
  
"Huh," was the younger man's only reply as he turned to look out the window once again, seemingly shutting out entirely the other's presence. After a moment, he queried, "What happened?"   
  
"Ah." Recalling his semi-promise not to inform others of Sakura's lapse, he lied easily, "Ran into a few trees." At Sasuke's flat look, he laughed and raised his hands. "I actually ran into an irate woman or three."   
  
"Hmm."   
  
"So, is Ino still chasing after you?" he asked lightly, steering the topic away from the other girl. Sakura would definitely use her skills to inflict lasting damage if Hidden Leaf Village's rising ninja learned of the bath-capture mission Hokage had put Kakashi up to - in an attempt to gauge her skills. That was easy to judge - rusty. Very rusty, but able to defend her pride admirably. His face could attest to that.   
  
"Hmph," came the sour grunt. Sasuke's avoidance of woman - Hidden Leaf's female ninja fanclub devoted to him in particular - was of great amusement to all the men of the village.   
  
"I hear she tried slipping into your house a few nigh--"   
  
"Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasukeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" a familiar voice blared from the doorway. Both men turned after sharing a resigned glance.   
  
Naruto grinned widely at them both. "We've got a mission!" he announced with his usual excitement.   
  
"Oh?" Kakahashi hid a smile, well aware of the Hokage's latest... plan.   
  
"Yup. All three of us and Sakura!" he exploded happily.   
  
"What's the mission?" Sasuke interrupted, before Naruto could go into his love of the girl. If he did - well, they would be here for a while.   
  
"Eh, protecting some old fart on the way to the Water Country, or something like that." He shrugged. "It's a C-level job." He sounded faintly sour over that, as was expected. Naruto always wanted the most dangerous duties.   
  
"Sakura?" Sasuke frowned. "Why is she coming along?"   
  
"She's a new intermediate," Kakashi explained. "It will be good for her to gain some practice with the two of you."   
  
~`~`~`~`   
  
"Mama," Sakura protested, turning to glance at her parents as she toweled the dishes dry, "I thought you were used to it by now!"   
  
"Yes, dear, but..." her mother ventured hesitantly. "It's not the mission, it's..." she glanced toward her husband and continued waveringly, "Well, Lee is coming home, and we thought it would be nice if..."   
  
"Mama, I am _not_ going to marry Rock Lee!" She threw the towel onto the counter and glanced at her father with pleading eyes. "Father, you didn't agree with this?!"   
  
"Sakura," he began heavily, "You really need to think about your future. Yes, you are an intermediate ninja - but what about family? Children?"   
  
She flushed. Family... children... yes, she wanted them, but the one man she cared for was beyond her reach. "Who says all women need to stay at home?" she defended, feeling hurt. "Besides, I don't _like_ him that way!"   
  
"Dear..."   
  
"No, Mama!" She shook her head violently. "I don't want to hear about it anymore. I need to pack for the mission." Before heading to her room, she stared at her mother. "I know you only want what's best, but... Mama, Lee won't make me happy. I would rather stay a ninja and have no children than tie myself to someone I can't love."   
  
She hesitated, as though to say more, before turning sharply and running from her parents' presence, tears pricking at her eyes. _I know... I know, Father, Mama. It's just that... if I can't stay with Sasuke, then I won't stay with anyone at all._   
  
...   
**extra notes:** I know this is an extremely short chapter, but it's my first dabbling into this fandom, and I'm still a little hesitant over it - especially as I'm not done watching all the episodes released. Anyway ... I hoped this proved to be of some minor entertainment for you readers. ^_^ Also, it will be apparent later, but Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke are much older than they are in the anime - seventeen to nineteen-ish, or around there.   
  
Feedback is appreciated.   
  
.. _shattered flight_ .. 


End file.
